McDonald's Future of Ai & Automation

· McDonald's,Consumer Trends,Consumer,Food,Fast Food

McDonald's Future of Ai & Automation

McDonald's continues to lead the fast-food industry in a variety of innovations including digital transactions and delivery services, both of which increase the company's same store sales and customer satisfaction.

The company's long-term strategy to develop an integrated digital infrastructure will allow it to resist competition and bolster its longstanding brand.

The company plans to revamp 12,000 stores in the US to provide its customers with a more futuristic, clean, and seamless restaurant experience compared to older models. One of the most critical components of McDonald’s store modernization initiative is the implementation of Self-order kiosks. Self-order kiosks increase average sales, improve service accuracy, increase store capacity at busy hours, and influence customers to purchase more items. These kiosks will allow McDonald's to reallocate labor towards customer safety and hospitality, which will further lift same-store sales.

McDonald's recently invested in two digital companies, including a $300 million acquisition of Dynamic Yield and a $5 million investment in Plexure. McDonald's can now access Dynamic Yield's database of more than 600 million monthly global users, which will only expedite McDonald's vision of customer recognition at the drive-thru. Additionally, McDonald's has launched a mobile app, which reported more downloads than any other fast food restaurant app.

In 2017, McDonald's became one of the first fast-food companies to partner with a delivery service. Yesterday, McDonald's ended this exclusive deal with Uber Eats by partnering with the San Francisco based delivery service, DoorDash. McDonald's also negotiated new terms with Uber Eats that included paying a lower service fee to Uber, differentiating online and in-store prices, and integrating delivery into the mobile app. About 9,000 of the company's US restaurants support delivery, which represents one of the many ways McDonald's plans to enhance restaurant convenience.

By 2021, McDonald's expects to have self-order kiosks and digital menu boards in every restaurant around the world. Once these restaurants are fully modernized, experts predict that same-store sales will increase by around 5 percent. McDonald's recent acquisitions and its large-scale store remodeling initiative position the company to realize more mobile transactions, higher average checks, and heightened customer loyalty compared to other select peers.